In open office areas, conventional arrangements of wall panels are provided which subdivide a large open office area into smaller cubicles or work stations. Such wall panels comprise serially-connected panels that are joined end to end and thus, these wall panels have a modular construction. The work stations defined by the wall panels provide individual work areas and not only provide work surfaces and storage areas but also are supplied with power and communications outlets.
With respect to power distribution systems for such environments, wall panels typically include raceways therein which define spaces within the wall panels in which power cabling may be received. It is known to provide in such modular wall panels, conventional power distribution systems which extend thru the raceways and have electrical receptacles attached thereto. A typical power distribution system includes modular power distribution assemblies (herein PDA's) which comprise elongate lengths of cabling that define one or more electrical circuits and have power blocks on the opposite ends thereof having ports to allow access to such electrical circuits. The distribution system further includes plug-in receptacles which each include rearwardly-projecting terminal posts that are adapted to plug into the ports on the PDA to electrically connect the receptacle to a selected one of the circuits defined within the PDA. On the front face of the receptacle, appropriate groups of openings are provided in a conventional arrangement to accommodate a conventional electrical plug, which openings provide access to hot, neutral and ground contacts enclosed within the housing.
A number of different constructions for such power distribution systems are known wherein each of these systems typically includes receptacles having a construction corresponding to the PDA used within the system. The assignee of the present invention, Haworth, Inc., distributes a number of such power distribution systems for use within different wall panel product lines, wherein these different systems require specific tooling for each type of receptacle since each receptacle has a different construction relative to the receptacles of the other systems.
It is an object of the invention to provide a common receptacle construction which may be readily adapted in receptacles which each have different shapes and configurations but use common internal component parts and similar internal structures.
The invention therefore relates to a receptacle construction which is readily adaptable for use in multiple power distribution systems wherein a plurality of different receptacles are still provided. These receptacles use common internal components which components also permit ready adaptation and design of additional receptacle constructions while reducing tooling and design costs in developing additional receptacles.
The receptacle construction of the invention uses a plurality of contact strip assemblies which are confined within the interior of the receptacle housing. Each contact strip assembly generally uses common components in that such contact strip assemblies include elongate conductive contact strips that have a modular construction so that the length of such contact strips may be varied, for example, for duplex or triplex receptacles, merely by varying the modular length of the contact strip. Such contact strips are shaped so as to include spaced apart prong seats along the length thereof which open forwardly and align with respective openings in the receptacle face to permit the receipt of a respective prong of a conventional plug. Such contact strips are configured to either accept a flat blade of a conventional hot or neutral prong, or the more cylindrical ground prong.
The contact strips of the invention are connected to flexible intermediate conductors which electrically connect the contact strips to a respective terminal. The terminal fits into the post on the back face of the receptacle and are adapted to be removably plugged into a PDA for engagement with the PDA conductors.
The flexible intermediate conductor therefore permits the contact strip and terminal to be readily adapted and configured for different housing constructions which might have a first front-to-back depth in one receptacle construction and a greater or smaller front-to-back depth in another receptacle construction. Further, the receptacles may have slidable or movable exterior posts in which the terminals are seated for engagement with a PDA wherein the flexible intermediate conductor permits displacement of the terminals of the receptacle so that the receptacle may be selectively connected to a selected one of the multiple circuits defined within a PDA.
Additionally, the ground contact strip may be more rigidly connected to a terminal with the ground terminal being assembled in one of two stationary positions for connection to either a common ground or an isolated ground circuit within the PDA.
The receptacle construction of the invention provides distinct advantages over prior constructions wherein the prior art receptacles are designed independently from each other and do not make use of a readily adaptable component construction.
Other objects and purposes of the invention, and variations thereof, will be apparent upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.
Certain terminology will be used in the following description for convenience and reference only, and will not be limiting. For example, the words “upwardly”, “downwardly”, “rightwardly” and “leftwardly” will refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words “inwardly” and “outwardly” will refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the arrangement and designated parts thereof. Said terminology will include the words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import.